The present invention relates to graphic arts in general and more particularly to an improved process for automatically generating camera-ready graphical artwork with the aid of a computer.
Graphical artwork, more specifically, graphical plots are commonly used as a visual aid to display a substantial amount of information regarding the coordinate relationships of certain variable physical quantities. In addition to the plotting of the basic coordinate data, typically for selected values of a variable factor or condition, such graphical plots generally include a variety of reference lines or curves as well as shading patterns for ready observation and interpretation of the data. Large quantities of these highly informative graphical plots, often found in scientific works and technical reports and manuals, are usually printed using conventional methods of photolithography that require production of a high-quality reproduction copy of the graphical plots in intricate detail, ready for photographing by a process camera.
Commonly known as being camera-ready, such high-quality reproduction copies of the graphical plots have been difficult and time-consuming to produce as well as to edit and correct if necessary. Hand-drawing and editing of the plots by skilled draftsmen, although satisfactory from a quality standpoint, continues to be painstaking and costly. Machine-drawn plots can be produced in substantially less time and have generally been adequate in quality and detail. However, such machine-drawn artwork still requires manual "cut-outs" and "paste-ons" to meet camera-ready requirements.